Father’s Tattoo Tribute To Six-Year Old Deaf Daughter Who Has Two Hearing Implants Goes Viral

Father’s Tattoo Tribute To Six-Year Old Deaf Daughter Who Has Two Hearing Implants Goes Viral

One deaf girl’s dad has gone above and beyond to make sure she doesn’t feel alone. To mirror his daughter’s cochlear implants, one dad had implants tattooed onto his head and the image is going viral.

Zimplant

A father has tattooed an image of a hearing implant on to his head in support of his daughter who has two of the devices fitted to combat her profound deafness.

Alistair Campbell, from New Zealand, got the artwork done to show six-year-old daughter Charlotte that he supports her as she struggles with a condition that means she has profound hearing loss.

Charlotte had her first cochlear implant fitted aged just four on the left side of her head, and was due to have another fitted this week when Mr Campbell decided to get the tattoo done.

An image of him sitting next to his daughter with his inking and her implant visible has since gone viral online, where it has been shared tens of thousands of times.

Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, Mr Campbell said he got the tattoo ‘out of love’ for his daughter, and to show her he could take a bit of pain on her behalf.

He told the paper that he has no other tattoos, and will now let his hair grow back to cover this one.

However, he added that he can always shave it again on ‘special occasions’ or if Charlotte ever becomes worried about fitting in, or wants to see it.

He said that when Charlotte saw the drawing she said it was ‘cool’ before giggling and touching it.

However, mother Anita says she believes the full significance of the inking hasn’t sunk in yet, and that her daughter will likely appreciate it more as she gets older.

Mrs Campbell said that hearing loss runs in the family. Her mother had to wear a hearing implant, while her second son Lewis, eight, also wore hearing aids.

Charlotte was initially diagnosed with partial hearing loss in her left ear, but this was later upgraded to profound hearing loss, with a condition affecting her right ear which also impairs her hearing.

Mrs Campbell said her daughter gradually became quieter and more withdrawn until she got the first implant, at which point she became ‘a social butterfly’.

She added that having a second implant fitted would ‘enhance [Charlotte’s] life.’

Cochlear implants are used to replace hearing in adults or children who have profound hearing loss or a genetic condition which worsens over time.

They consist of two parts, a microphone fitted behind the ear alongside a speech processor to filter out the important bits of speech, and an implant further up the head.

The implant, which is made up of a series of electrical transmitters, is anchored into the skull and attached to the nerve which transmits hearing signals to the brain.

It bypasses the damaged inner ear an allows people to hear. Unlike hearing aids, which boost regular hearing, cochlear implants replace hearing altogether, and wearers must be taught to interpret the new sounds they are hearing.

Because of the way they work, they can only be used on people with damage to the inner ear, and cannot be used on people who have problems with the nerves connecting the brain to the ear.

As she grows, she will likely feel, at times, different than others. But knowing that her dad has got her back will likely make her feel much better about her disability.

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